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The Best Writing Tips I Wish I Had Known From The Very Beginning!

Writing is not an easy endeavor. It requires practicing a skill in order to hone the ability. The key to mastering any art is not to give up! Our brains are in a constant state of learning and gaining experience. It takes time.

Here is a list I have compiled of tips that can make the process a lot easier and enhances the skill of writing. I am a new writer like many people and am doing my best to become proficient. I know firsthand how challenging it can be and feel the struggle regularly like I am sure many do. I hope these help!

TIP #1 — Slow Down:

This is probably the hardest lesson I have ever had to learn and am constantly at war with. The reality of the matter though is that authors must slow down. This is a critical point that even I have brushed off as irrelevant. The truth cannot be avoided. Writers need to take their time in order to produce quality writing that others might want to read. Anything good takes time to develop. Imagine how many hours that turkey sits in the oven on Thanksgiving baking itself into the golden delicious meat everyone wants to gobble up. A delicious meal does not happen in minutes. This is true of anything. The more effort and detail writers put to the pen makes a huge difference.

TIP #2—Editing:

From my experience, nobody is a fan of proofreading and editing their own writing. It can be tedious and boring (my opinion). However, the grammar police and mobs of rioters will come for you with their pitches if you do not edit! You will be drawn and quartered in the most brutal of deaths! I’m totally serious. That is how vital editing is. Writers need to take their time to go over their work. Then when they have reviewed through it with a fine comb, they should go over it again. Writers should also keep in mind that no editing is ever perfect. They just need to do their best to provide the best-polished piece of work manageable.

Here is two free online editing/proofing software that I use. They help me more than anything else I can think of. I always put anything I write in them. They both require signing up for an account with email. It only takes minutes though!

Yes, I said that correctly. Do not write your words like it is writing. It is important that any piece of work is something that can be easily recognized. Readers want to be spoken to not dictated by a robot. It is vital to express personality and uniqueness without being too extreme about it. I know from experience it is easy to take on a certain tone that becomes something not intended. This has been one of bigger challenges for me as a writer. Always keep in mind that just sounding natural, relaxed, and informative all in one is beyond valuable. It allows readers to get to know the person behind the pen. It reaches them in ways that every successful author achieves through practice. As a side note to help in this area, I have always been told to read my writing out loud to myself or an audience. It really helps point out the bland and dreary. Speaking the words out loud also pinpoints to the ear whether the flow is as smooth as it should be.

Tip #4 – Be Specific:

The description is the most powerful tool a writer has in their arsenal. It is the sword that can slay the dragon, the jelly in a doughnut, and the lyrics in a song. The zest of any piece of writing is the portrayal of those words. Never underestimate the strength description provides. Writers by nature seek to make readers feel something. This cannot be achieved if the reader isn’t be reached and a picture does not form in their head. Painting those images is crucial to bring about any form of emotion. I highly recommend using a thesaurus to find unique ways to discuss a topic, event, place, person, or thing. The thesaurus can easily be accessed online and with a little inner creativity can really bring words to life.

Tip #5 – Take Advice & Keep Learning:

Writers need to listen and learn from other writers that have experience in their practice. I cannot say this enough. Always keep learning and take the valuable input of writers and readers alike. They can truly provide an education that will propel the skill further and one never knows when they will new things. Majority of what I know about writing, which admittedly is meager compared to most, has come from other writers that I have spoken to frequently. It also has come from being a reader. That also gives me insight into my own writing because I always try to analyze how I would feel about it as a reader. I take both sides of the coin to heart.

I agree with your sentiments. If you can afford a professional editor. That is a good idea! However, in my limited experience that is extremely costly! I am talking hundreds of dollars for a book edit. A lot of people cannot afford such a thing and try on their own. I am not against this. Here on the blog I proof and edit my own work because that is my only option. I am sure you can tell! it is a struggle many face. Would be nice though to be able to just hire an editor.

Great tips and editing links. I’m so new to writing and building a WordPress site. I started writing seven months ago and building the site two days ago. The writing is fun and terrifying at the same time. WordPress is frustrating. Thanks for the writing tips and the encouraging like even if it was out of pity. Blessings

I know what you mean, but I disagree with rule 1. May advice is to run the next part over and over in your head until you know what you ant to write, then write fast. That way, you get the motion in your mind into your writing. The danger of writing slowly is that it may get ponderous. Just my view.

That is okay to have a different opinion and thank you for sharing your thoughts. I bet how you feel about rule #1 is exactly what works for many writers and is also good advice! I mostly meant to slow down and proofread, correct errors, and edit well. I find that to be the hardest for me. Once I have it penned I want to share it but not take my time cleaning it up and proofing ❤

Reblogged this on Lizardyoga's People and commented:
I was going to comment on this post and then I realised that a) I had too much to say about it and b) my comments would get lost in the envy-inducing welter of comments below. So I’m reblogging it here. I particularly like 1 and 4 and if I had to pick a favourite it’d be point 1. I have spent the last ten years telling myself to hurry up, hurry up or else I’ll be dead before I’m famous (or achieve anything worthwhile). Writing is not one mountain to climb but a whole range; first there’s carving out a routine, then there’s finding your own voice, then writing something worthwhile, then editing it and then, when the damned thing is just about perfect or as near as you can make it, trying to publish the bloody thing. But at the end of those ten years I realise that it is indeed necessary to slow down in order to produce good art

Hey, thanks for following and for leading me to your blog 🙂 I love your point about not getting hung up on writing like it is ‘writing’. It’s so easy to over complicate the writing process and think you have to make it sound overly writerly/clever/pretentious. But, as you say, reading aloud is definitely a way to avoid slipping into this trap!

Nice list! I especially like the parts about taking advice from other writers (I have a lot of trouble with that sometimes, I, like many writers, have a tender ego) and reading your writing aloud to people to see how it sounds. 🙂

Wow! The first one really speaks my mind. I like your analogy with the turkey. I instantly imagine myself sitting in, marinated by random ideas and thoughts. LOL. I’m also a new writer, I’ll learn from you!

Awesome post Samantha! These were wonderful tips which I passed along to my Twitter and hopefully Facebook Followers too.

One website I can’t live without is Anne R. Allen’s Blogger site. It’s pure meat for the writer’s soul if you know what I mean! I am contemplating creating another blog for my writing interests if I can find some spare time, whew. Oh and before I forget, I am truly honored (!!!) that you have found and follow my blog. I know I’ll discover even more as I follow you. I can’t wait to see what you have written. I’m here for you if I can promote any of your books, blog or your writing, Blessings back, 🙂

Love the post! I started writing in a creative writing class back in 94. It was the first class I received a passing grade in (A). But aside from pulling up my GPA, what was probably the most important part of that class was the teacher telling me I had a talent for it. It encouraged me to write on my won and for myself. I wrote for years and years, usually due to some emotional turmoil going on in my teenage brain. But I put the pen down for years. Started up again and just like you said our brains are in a constant state of learning. And my writing muscles and processes had atrophied. But I’m on it now. Thank you for these reminders and tips. Its like learning how to walk all over again.

Great tips. Especially reading aloud. I’ve been scribbling for a few years, but just recently but some of my work out for others to read. I will be reading all you hints and tips, trying to learn more!

For me personally editing is the best part. I always end up with this little tally in my head of ’that should be changed’, ’that doesn’t work as I intended’, or ’wow that’s bad, I should just stop writing now and spare the world this monstrosity’. Editing is the time I get to clean all of that up, and usually I end up with a feeling of ‘this actually has the potential of some day maybe being good’.
I love printing out the physical pages and literally cutting the up and putting them back together in a new order, or all of those little red pen notes in the margins. And yes, that probably makes me crazy or odd, but no body sane ever decided to write for a living 😁

I particularly agree with tip #4. I use an online dictionary all the time because my native tongue is Spanish and I don’t want people to realise that me no speak english very good while reading. Great article!

This is truly valuable information, and I plan on doing my best to follow your tips. The one about details was particularly interesting I think, maybe because I tend to leave description aside and focus on the action and especially the dialogue. I sometimes feel that strong characters make a good story and lose focus on the environment and such details. I know it’s not the right way to convince the reader about what I’m trying to write, but it’s only when reading articles such as yours that I realise it. As for the proofreading… I actually love it, but it’s horribly annoying when I see a typo only the 10th time I check the same chapter… it happened sometimes to forget what I meant to say and then need to rephrase the whole sentence with a whole other idea in its stead simply because I couldn’t remember because of that monstrous typo. In a way, it’s really fun though 🙂
I hope you don’t mind if I reblog your post. It’s truly useful and it’s not only a way to make it visible to more people but also a personal way of storing information I want to come back to later 😀

Spot on !
For me personally slowing down is a big one. Usually go hell for leather but then more time is spent editing. I’d be better off breathing and stepping rather than my Usain Bolt writing sprint 😊

That is awesome! Definitely keep it up! Writing is neverending skill you develop. Heck I just went to re-read my post about writing tips and found mistakes! A couple typos etc … It is always an ongoing learning process. Just enjoy